Saving Grace: Deception. Obsession. Redemption.
(The Ropewalk series, Book 2)
By H D Coulter
Beacon Hill, Boston. 1832.
“You are innocent. You are loved. You are mine.”
After surviving the brutal attack and barely escaping death at Lancaster Castle, Beatrice Mason attempts to build a new life with her husband Joshua across the Atlantic in Beacon Hill. But, as Beatrice struggles to cope with the pregnancy and vivid nightmares, she questions whether she is worthy of redemption.
Determined to put the past behind her after the birth of her daughter Grace, Bea embraces her newfound roles of motherhood and being a wife. Nevertheless, when she meets Sarah Bateman, their friendship draws Bea towards the underground railroad and the hidden abolitionist movement, despite the dangerous secrets it poses. Whilst concealed in the shadows, Captain Victor Hanley returns, obsessed with revenge and the desire to lay claim to what is his, exposes deceptions and doubts as he threatens their newly established happiness.
Now, Beatrice must find the strength to fight once more and save Grace, even if it costs her life.
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 330 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
MY THOUGHTS
Beatrice Mason has married the man she loves and has a child on the way. To the outside world, they seem like the perfect young couple, a new family, moving to Beacon Hill, Boston, to make their own lives, carve out their own future. However, what the outside world sees and what happens behind closed doors are two very different things.
With Bea struggling to cope with what happened to her, her husband, Joshua Mason, has to try and be the pillar supporting their relationship. With all the attention on Bea, no one knows what he is going through, how he can’t get close to Bea anymore, how he can barely even look at her growing stomach.
Joshua grew up among the upper class and, while Bea is not used to such a thing, it is clear she cannot look after the house by herself and a servant is hired. Sarah is quiet, and can’t accept that Bea would want to be called anything but ‘mistress’. Everyone has secrets that they keep to themselves, and Sarah’s may be concealed behind the songs that she sings when she thinks no one is listening.
Bea is a woman that has gone through unimaginable suffering, the kind of trauma that Joshua couldn’t possibly understand. Not only does she have to come to terms with what has happened, but she also has to deal with a baby that she doesn’t know if she can ever love. While Joshua is patient with her and doesn’t let her know that anything might be amiss, he feels much the same way. How can he bear to raise the child when all he wants is the woman he fell in love with to return to him, to reemerge out of the shell of the woman lying in his bed? While the couple go through so much together, and Joshua holds onto the relationship with all his might, he can’t accept what his wife has become and that the future he dreamed of may never happen.
As Bea slowly accepts the fact that the child in her has done nothing wrong, and knows nothing of how she came to be, she grows closer to Sarah, the servant Joshua employed. Being a woman of colour, Sarah’s position in Boston is close to non-existent, but Bea’s growing affections for the woman come as a surprise – how can a white woman be so kind to someone like her? As I read, I came to care greatly for Sarah and, learning her backstory, I felt incredibly sorry for her, much as I do for Bea. Both women have suffered and are incredibly similar, despite having grown up in such different circumstances. The family that Bea creates around herself doesn’t just include her husband and her child, but also Sarah, who she accepts as a sister in this unfamiliar land.
In Ulverston, before leaving for Boston, Bea found herself and her family caught up in a workers revolt, with families too poor to feed themselves. In Boston, Bea finds herself drawn towards another cause, to The African Meeting House, where the need for a cup of tea quickly morphs into a desire to help, to do anything she can to provide assistance to those escaping slavery and to fight against the unjust practice of keeping another human being as ones own. With such ideals, Bea proves herself to be more of a kind person than previously, showing that she doesn’t hold the same thoughts as many others, that anyone with a different colour skin is inferior to the white man and woman, despite the popularity of such views.
Another way Bea does not fit into the new world she finds herself in is that she comes from a working-class background – not the kind of upper-class background she now finds herself in, contrary to Joshua’s upbringing. She is not used to fancy dinners, or servants, or, as other ladies in her new class, to letting other people raise her children. With Grace’s birth comes a new person that Bea cannot bear to lose, and a person that she doesn’t want to let out of her sight. Grace becomes the very core of her existence, and with a child to care for and love, Bea can slowly let go of the past and settle into her new life. Little does she know of the danger that she once again finds herself in, and her strength and determination is put to the test as old fears resurface, and I found myself on the very edge of my seat, trying to predict what would happen next so I could put my mind at rest, but being unable to.
Having read Book 1, Ropewalk; Rebellion. Love. Survival, I knew what was happening the minute I opened this book, however, I am of the viewpoint that you don’t necessarily need to read book 1 to understand this book. The characters and scenes have been created with such brilliance that it is hard to put this book down and easy to read. I was astonished to find that, like the cliffhanger at the end of Book 1, this book also ends with such an intense scene I was distraught to find out that Book 3 will not be out for a while. This does mean, though, that you have plenty of time to read both Ropewalk; Rebellion. Love. Survival and Saving Grace: Deception. Obsession. Redemption before Book 3 is released.
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Universal Link to other bookshops
Ropewalk; Rebellion. Love. Survival (The Ropewalk Series, Book 1) is only 0.99 on ebook during the tour. Here are the buy links:
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Universal Link to other bookshops
H D Coulter
Hayley was born and raised in the lake district and across Cumbria. From a young age, Hayley loved learning about history, visiting castles and discovering local stories from the past. Hayley and her partner lived in Ulverston for three years and spent her weekends walking along the Ropewalk and down by the old harbour. She became inspired by the spirit of the area and stories that had taken place along the historic streets.
As a teacher, Hayley had loved the art of storytelling by studying drama and theatre. The power of the written word, how it can transport the reader to another world or even another time in history. But it wasn't until living in Ulverston did she discover a story worth telling. From that point, the characters became alive and she fell in love with the story.
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